Archive for July, 2013

Raicha stood on the terrace and stared at the crocodile. It was a gift from Kanjire. Apparently Kanjirians considered ill-tempered predators an appropriate gift for foreign royalty. Crocodiles were the symbolic guardians of their royal family, fine. Still. It was fifteen feet long and had made a spirited attempt to kill the men who had unloaded it; Camilia had been extremely impolite privately about the need to find somewhere to put the damn thing. It was also, very clearly, a statement about the relative fitness of the ruling families of Kanjire and Tacar. Tamedijl, who had been Kanjirian royalty before her marriage, had looked smug all day.

It’s time for this month’s blog round with Let’s Lunch! I’m happy to be back after a couple of months of kitchen catastrophes and life crises, and just in time to celebrate the release of The Marijuana Chronicles, the brand new anthology including a short story by Let’s Lunch’s own Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan!

Despite the fact that I went to plenty of parties during college, I managed to never lay eyes or nose on marijuana at any of them, so my experience with munchies is limited entirely to the eternal non-chemical allure of a good French fry. (I would say that the lack of non-alcoholic recreation was because we were all so law-abiding but I suspect it was largely because we also took ourselves way too seriously.)

I do, however, feel totally confident in recommending scallion pancakes for anyone feeling the urge for a little snack. Hot out of the pan, they’re crisp, salty, and entirely delicious. I use Martin Yan’s recipe because a) Martin Yan’s good cheer and enthusiasm for cooking never fail to delight me, and b) it’s a damn good recipe. I have made these many times for parties, and they always get eaten down to the last crispy triangle. Always.